Use and Care Manual

General Drying Guidelines
Certain varieties of produce, the humidity in the air, and even methods of food
handling make quite a difference in the drying time and quality of the dried product.
• Experiment with different drying temperatures, thickness of produce,
pre-treatment versus no pre-treatment and different re-hydration methods.
You will determine what works best for your particular needs and preferences.
• To save nutrients and produce a quality product, it is necessary to work fast
preparing foods to dry. When placed in your dehydrator, they need to dry
continuously at the recommended temperatures and times. Do not turn off your
dehydrator or leave partially dried food on the trays as it may spoil or develop
“off” flavors.
• Spread all foods evenly to dry in single layers. If slices overlap, the areas that are
overlapped will take twice as long to dry.
• Do not add fresh produce to a partially dried batch. It will slow the rate of drying
for both products. It is possible, however, to combine partially dried foods on to
fewer trays.
• Many people have more than one NESCO
®
/American Harvest
®
dehydrator. If you
have two, it’s easy to combine a load from both dehydrators after a few hours and
start a new batch in your second dehydrator using the remaining trays.
Selecting Foods To Dry
Select the best quality produce at the peak of ripeness and flavor. Wash carefully
to remove debris, dust and insects. Cut away bruised or damaged sections.
Loading Trays
Lay food pieces evenly on trays. Don’t overlap food pieces, as this will inhibit
drying time. As each tray is loaded, place it on the dehydrator to begin drying.
Drying Time
Because of the unique design of the patented Converga-Flow
®
system of your
NESCO
®
/American Harvest
®
dehydrator, you’ll be surprised at how quickly most
foods dry.
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